Wraith
by Lady Rane
Summary: When a vengeful wraith possesses Sanosuke, the Kamiya home goes up in flames. It is up to Kaoru to protect her friends, but will she throw away all of her convictions to do it? This is a COMPLETE short story.


Disclaimer and notes: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, or any characters associated therin. Takahashi Shota does belong to me. This fic is nonprofit, for entertainment only.   
  
This story takes place post-Kyoto, pre-Jinchuu. It is my first fanfic.   
  


** Wraith **

  
  
Takahashi Shota floated past the outskirts of Kyoto, following a trail. He'd almost closed in on it within the city, a few days ago, but the wraith had lost it again. He only had the nights, by day he was forced into the oblivion of slumber again. He had slumbered like that for ten long years, day or night, until the presence of Battousai very near his place of death had stirred him again.   
  
Battousai was different, and that made the trail hard to follow. He also associated with people, a lot of people, and that also made the trail hard to follow. He had followed it a few times only to end up with one of his fellow Shinsengumi, or some group of ninja, or once, a family of swordmakers. He'd followed it up a mountain only to find an imposing looking man in a white cloak, a dangerous fellow to be sure, but not Battousai.   
  
But now it very clearly led away from Kyoto, with no side trails to distract him into the city.   
  
The wraith bared its teeth, long and pointed and twisted. His ghost visage looked very little like his human self, save for the old Shinsengumi uniform that hung in tatters around his emaciated frame. Yet Takahashi Shota had a duty to perform, and he would perform it. If he could get rid of Battousai, then the country would be safe. The cause of the opposition would be destroyed with the death of its living weapon. The Shogun would be secure in his power once again. He had the advantage now. Swords could not harm the dead, but the dead had many tricks that the living did not.   
  
  
  
_So that's when he does it._   
  
Kamiya Karou was having trouble sleeping since Kyoto. She'd finally gotten up to take a walk around the dojo grounds. It had been deep in the night when she'd finally gotten up and tried it the night before, but now the moon was still high in the sky. Everyone had only just gone to bed a few hours ago.   
  
Everyone, she saw now, except Kenshin, who had slipped quietly out to wash his own clothing while everyone was asleep. He'd wrapped himself in the blue gi which she'd known he owned, but which she'd never seen him wear. The white hakama were gone, in, she presumed, with the faded gi he was washing so quietly. She supposed the old garment had to have been red once, but now it was a very faded, very worn shade of pink.   
  
_Kenshin. You need new clothes._   
  
She watched him hang it up to dry and slipped off, realizing he'd wake early in the morning to retrieve them before anyone else could be bothered by the sight of him in his old hitokiri clothes, which Karou knew were covered with bloodstains.   
  
Karou went to bed and smiled as she fell asleep, considering how best to surprise him. She may not have been a good cook, but she could sew. She'd have to find the very best fabric her budget would allow. Even if it took all day!   
  
  
  
Kenshin awoke with a start and the feeling that something wasn't quite right. He wasn't alarmed yet, but he darted outside and grabbed his still damp clothes anyway. He dressed quickly, slid his reverse bladed sword into its normal place, and began prowling the dojo.   
  
He prowled the dojo grounds anyway, most mornings, trying not to wake anyone up. He didn't feel any new ki, which meant that there probably wasn't an intruder. Yet...   
  
He frowned and turned towards Karou's room, only to find a note tacked up on her door.   
  
**Gone shopping, minna! Back later, I promise. DO NOT worry. DO NOT try to follow me, find me, or otherwise intrude. This is GIRL TIME. KENSHIN THIS MEANS YOU.**   
  
"Oro," Kenshin said. He'd felt her walking around, even stopping to watch him do his laundry the night before, he just hadn't let it show. Karou had a right to walk around her own house, and he'd hoped she wouldn't bring up the issue of him and his clothes. Now he had the dillema of actually obeying her note, or following her anyway. But if she's trying to surprise me, and finds out, she'll feel really bad.   
  
He edged to the front gates anyway, wondering who he could enlist to help that wouldn't upset her. It wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself. It wasn't that he didn't respect her abilities. When there were fights that she could handle, she took care of those, freeing him for those fights that were more difficult. He remembered her at Kanryuu's mansion, back to back with Yahiko, keeping the minions out of his way. There had been a lot of minions. He could have taken care of them himself, but then they might have been too late. He knew she'd fought with bravery and strength at the Aoiya. Just because she wasn't say, oh, a master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu didn't mean she needed his constant watchful eye. If matching him in swordsmanship was the criteria for strength, there weren't very many strong people in all of Japan.   
  
He just liked having it there.   
  
He got to the gates to find another note tacked there.   
  
**Don't even think about it!**   
  
"Ororo!"   
  
She knew him too well.   
  
Then Kenshin smiled. Well two people could play at the surprise game. He and Kaoru had been dancing around addressing each other's real feelings for a long time. He was always certain he was on the verge of hearing she wanted nothing more than his friendship. Not that he was worthy of her anyway, but even an unworthy one such as himself could wish. Perhaps she had the right idea though. Friends didn't have to be lovers to show they cared, and for that matter, it would be nice to show he cared in a way other than swinging his sword around. Yes, he did the chores, but that was his responsibility as a resident of the dojo, the rent he paid in lieu of the money he didn't have.   
  
He heard the heavy snores of Sano, sleeping on the porch. Perfect. Now to just wake him up... he walked over and shook his friend. "Sano."   
  
Sano muttered something and rolled over.   
  
"Sano," he tried again, a little louder.   
  
He heard a snicker behind him. "You'll never do it that way," Yahiko said. He grinned brightly and held up a bucket of water. Yahiko was covered with a fine sheen of sweat. He must have been up early, practicing, determined to master Kamiya Kasshin Ryu as quickly as he could.   
  
"Yahiko, we can't..."   
  
Yahiko grinned broadly, and threw water on both him, and Sanosuke, who awoke with a furious yell. Without even stopping for air, he lunged at Yahiko. Unfortunately Kenshin was between them, and, unwilling to move and allow their confrontation to go on well into the morning, he simply stood there, so that they all ended up in a furious, soggy pile.   
  
"Oro."   
  
"Your elbow is in my face, brat!"   
  
"Well your big stinky foot is in mine!"   
  
They got themselves untangled and Kenshin said brightly, "Well Kaoru has gone shopping all day, and sessha would like some help fixing the roof, de gozaru." He gave thim his best hopeful rurouni eyes.   
  
They opened their mouth to protest and Kenshin said softly, "I want to make it up to her. Kyoto, I mean."   
  
That shut them up. They got up on the leaky roof to start assessing the damage and what it would take to repair it.   
  
  
  
Takahashi was getting used to the "new" feel of Battousai's ki. He felt stronger as he raced down the trail, covering miles of terrain in a matter of seconds, fueled by his mission and his need. It would not be long before he could rest. He paused for a moment, cavernous eyes going wide as he realized he was still moving and functioning despite the bright orange globe of the sun that had inched over the horizon and stayed there. If he was any judge he'd been active, in daylight, for at least an hour. A twisted grin formed over his ruined features. The legendary hitokiri of the Ishin Shishi would be destroyed, and with him, the teeth of their cause. Destroy evil instantly.   
  
  
  
Kaoru smiled and couldn't help but bury her face in the sky blue fabric she'd found. It, and the green fabric she'd found that mimiced perfectly the shade of tree leaves as they touched the midday sky, would look perfect on Kenshin. Now all that remained was to decide which should be the gi and which the hakama. She decided on the green for the gi; it would look nice with Kenshin's eyes, and hair.   
  
She wanted to sew it, go back home, and then sneak into Kenshin's room and lay it out on his bed. She needed a place to do it though, so she headed over to the Akabeko. Perhaps Tae would would let her borrow materials and her apartment. It would only take her a few hours to do it, she thought.   
  
_I hope he likes it. What if he's offended? What if he takes it as an insult to his current clothes?   
  
What if he hates the color? What if I don't get the size right? What if he thinks I'm being too forward?_   
  
Kaoru's litany of doubts paused as she felt someone brush past her arm. She stopped, freezing in sudden, instinctive fear, as a blast of wintery air enveloped her. Her eyes went right and she stood there, right in the middle of the street, her heart thumping in her throat...   
  
Then the feeling was gone. Kaoru shivered, then shook her head.   
  
_ Mou. I'm so nervous I'm hallucinating. _ She turned towards Tae's...then stopped.   
  
Something was wrong.   
  
She needed to go home.   
  
Now.   
  
She took the time to put all the fabric very carefully and safely in the basket she'd brought. Then she took off running down the street.   
  
  
  
Passing through the woman had been sheer luck. An accident. Yet her head was full of Battousai, and he knew, now, exactly where to find him. Takahashi no longer had to worry about losing the trail. He knew exactly where his enemy would be.   
  
  
  
By midday the three men had finished.   
  
"Alright!" Sano said. He was covered in sweat, but grinning. Yahiko was too. They'd done good work and they were proud of it. "Now how about some lunch?"   
  
Kenshin smiled and nodded. "Of course. Thank you for your help. Sessha will get started right away." He jumped lightly off the roof, laughing at Sano's outraged noise as Yahiko impishly duplicated his move. Sano had to use the ladder.   
  
Both of them headed to the kitchen to keep him company while he fixed lunch.   
  
"If Busu doesn't notice I'm gonna be mad," Yahiko grumped. Kenshin never had figured out why he felt the need to call Kaoru a hag. He'd done it a lot less since they'd returned home, mind, but old habits, it seemed, died hard.   
  
Kenshin just put on his rurouni smile and said, "Of course she will notice." He began laying out the ingreedients for lunch, then paused. "Sanosuke, would you mind going to get me some fresh water?"   
  
"No problem, Kenshin." Sano grabbed up a bucket, tossing it in the air and catching it as he whistled his way out.   
  
Content, Kenshin set Yahiko to chopping up radishes. A quiet day, at home, with the people who had become his family. Even if he and Kaoru did not end up more than friends, he could not begin to complain, or ask for more.   
  
  
  
Takahashi needed a weak, superstitious mind. Then he could possess the man and do what needed to be done. He watched the dojo from afar, worried that the Battousai would be able to sense his ki if he got any closer. He didn't want to warn Battousai before he had time to get things started.   
  
Then a tall man in white, with spiky messy hair walked out. Takahashi floated closer, reachiing out elongated fingers to gently brush the back of his neck, reading the thoughts that flowed into his mind with no effort from him. This mind would do, he thought. It would do nicely.   
  
  
  
_Destroy evil instantly._   
  
Sanosuke shivered. Why was he thinking that?? For a moment it felt as if someone were brushing the back of his neck with light fingertips. He shuddered even more. Maybe it was Saitoh Hajime, back to haunt him now that he was dead...but why would Saitoh haunt him?   
  
_Destroy evil instantly._   
  
Another whisper in his mind, like an insidious drumbeat. It was with shaking hands that the fighter lowered the bucket into the well.   
  
His head began to pound in time to the drumbeat, bringing with it a growing, throbbing pain. He gasped and fell to his knees. The bucket hit the dirt, rolled, forming a pool of mud in the dust that looked, eeriely, like blood.   
  
The pain grew, and grew, until his vision shattered into a thousand points of white light.   
  
  
  
A howl of agony sent Kenshin racing from the kitchen, Yahiko on his heels. He skidded to a halt when he saw Sanosuke writhing in the dirt next to the well, clutching his head and screaming.   
  
"Sano!" Kenshin rushed to his friend's side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sano!"   
  
He fell back in shock as Sanosuke's ki made an abrupt shift. If Kenshin had closed his eyes at that moment he would have sworn that someone else was there.   
  
Sano stood, then, looking completely calm. "I am fine. Let us go back inside."   
  
Yahiko tensed, gripping his shinai. "That was a nasty joke, Sano! We thought you were really hurt! Now cut it out, talking like someone else, and lets go inside so Kenshin can make some lunch! Ahou!"   
  
"Yahiko," Kenshin said softly, putting an arm in front of the youth. Yahiko stopped, then his eyes widened when he realized Sanosuke hadn't really reacted to his insult. It was what Saitoh had called him so often: Sanosuke would be shaken out of any practical joke to heap pain on the person using it.   
  
Sanosuke had an odd little smile on his face as he turned and walked into the house. Kenshin and Yahiko exchanged glances, then followed him. Sano passed the kitchen, passed Kaoru's room, and Yahiko's, and Kenshin's. He walked into, instead, the room that used to belong to Kamiya Kasshin himself.   
  
"Sano?" Kenshin asked softly.   
  
Sanosuke took Kamiya-sama's sword off of the wall. It was a real sword, not the ivory bokken of the Kamiya Kasshin master. That hung in the dojo itself, waiting for Kaoru to reach mastery herself and inherit it. It was the sword Kamiya-sama had carried off to do his duty for Japan, knowing that the vision he was instilling in his students of a sword that protects was yet a dream, not a reality, yet a vision, yet something he had to work to make come to pass.   
  
Sanosuke drew the sword. Kenshin pushed Yahiko out of the way and assumed a batto-jutsu stance. Something was very wrong. Sano contemplated it for a moment. As he did, his clothing seemed to blur and shift around him, becoming long and tattered, darkening in color, until they became the Shinsengumi uniform, torn and ripped to be sure, but recognizeable all the same.   
  
Violet eyes went wide. "Sanosuke!"   
  
"I, Takahashi Shota, will destroy the evil that is Hitokiri Battousai."   
  
Kenshin didn't know the name, but he said, "You are a spirit? This means you were incapable of defeating me once. What makes you think you can defeat me again?"   
  
"Do not fight too hard. Or you'll end up killing your friend."   
  
Then, Sanosuke was moving. Kenshin drew the sakabatou to block with no reservation. The ghost clearly hadn't noticed the nature of his sword.   
  
Kenshin went flying as their swords met, and grunted as he hit the wall.   
  
Takahashi had combined his Shinsengumi skill with Sagara Sanosuke's strength and endurance.   
  
Kenshin's eyes narrowed as he rolled to his feet, and motioned Takahashi forward. The fight began in earnest then, a ringing, clashing set of blows that moved them out of Kamiya-san's bedroom and back out into the yard, then back towards the kitchen area. Neither was able to score a hit on the other. Kenshin was neither thinking about it or worried about it, letting himself move to a calm state where his thoughts were merged with the movements of his blade: attack and defense.   
  
"Kenshin!" Yahiko shouted desparatley, seeing what the combatants did not. A meeting of the swords knocked an oil latern off of the table, and a blaze shot forth from the puddle on the floor.   
  
Kenshin's eyes went wide. He could see the flames reflecting in Sano's eyes. "Get out of here," he told Yahiko, putting all the growl in his voice that he could muster. For once the boy didn't argue. He raced for the door.   
  
The flames were spreading too fast though, and Yahiko's way was already blocked. He skidded to a stop.   
  
"Kenshin!!"   
  
  
  
The house was on fire!   
  
The flames seemed to have swallowed the entire house by the time Kaoru got there. The shed was alright, as was the dojo, but the house itself...   
  
There was no sign of her friends. Kaoru dropped the basket and started running. How would she find them? They must still be inside.   
  
She grabbed some of the still-damp laundry, flung it in the tub, and wrapped it around herself. She'd find them. That was that. She raced into the building. She imagined she could feel them, all clustered up in one section of the building. In the kitchen.   
  
Of course. Kenshin must have been cooking lunch.   
  
She plunged ahead. The water in her scant protection seemed to dry up almost immediately, and the steam it formed scalded her skin as much as the flames. Kaoru held her breath and tried not to scream. That would waste air. Instead she focused on a prone form, pinned under a charcoal black ceiling beam. She yanked it off and dragged the body outside.   
  
Yahiko.   
  
Hating the time it took, she soaked her clothing down once more and dove into the flames again. _ Come on Kenshin, where are you? _   
  
This time she nearly tripped over him. He was on fire, but she concentrated on getting him outside first. She slipped both arms around his chest and dragged him, silently cursing herself for the pain that had to be causing him. He was clutching his sakabato until she started dragging him. That fell from nerveless fingers and she snatched that up too, gripping it even though the bladed end cut into her flesh. He'd be devestated if he lost that, so he wouldn't. She got him to the well and dumped a bucket's worth of water on him, until the last of the flames smouldered out. She dropped the blade from bleeding fingers, right beside him.   
  
Firming her jaw, she wet herself down one more time.   
  
Tell me Sanosuke wasn't there...   
  
She wasn't sure she could drag the larger man out. Yet if he was there, she couldn't just leave him. She had to try!   
  
A man came walking out of the flames. A huge swordbearing man in a Shinshingumi uniform. Kaoru snarled as he came towards her, snatching up the nearest weapon she had. Kenshin's sakabato.   
  
_He did this. Another psycho who is still in the past. Another person who feels they have the right to disrupt lives for revenge, or out of some twisted desire to prove themselves against Battousai. I'm tired of them!_   
  
Letting out a roar, she launched herself at the taller swordsman. She could barely see for all the smoke and flames. Whoever it was laughed as their swords met. He began pushing down on her.   
  
_Such strength! And the sakabato is heavier than I'm used to. No! I won't loose!_   
  
Kaoru broke the deadlock, dove to the side, and spun around, unleashing the sword on her attacker's knees. She had forgotten to account for the bladed end, and the fact that the spin put the bladed side into the attack. She gasped as she felt it slice into flesh. Her attacker growled as he was forced to the ground, and it was then that Kaoru got a good look at him.   
  
_Sanosuke! No!_   
  
  
  
Something was wrong. Kenshin had to do something...   
  
Only half aware of what he was doing, Kenshin rose to one elbow and gathered up his ki. He flung out his arm and directed it, full force, at Sanosuke, only knowing he had to knock that spirit out of his friend.   
  
  
  
At the moment she recognized Sanosuke, something hard rammed into her. She had just enough time to see Sano's eyes go very wide before she was...   
  
Flying forward, or perhaps falling sideways. A dizzying array of colors, sounds, smells, disappearing and reappearing with alarming frequency. Then...   
  
She was floating in a deep void. She saw someone else floating opposite of her, his deformed face twisted in rage. And, too, she saw the Shinshingumi uniform. She knew with utter certainty that he had been behind the fire in her home, behind the near deaths of Kenshin and Yahiko, something that was a distinct possibility still if she couldn't defeat him and get back to them. Rage filled her, and the thought that she wanted to destroy him sparked in her brain. At that moment, a sword appeared in her hand, its blade gleaming cruelly though she could find no light to reflect off of it.   
  
And in that moment Kaoru did not care. If killing this man meant keeping her friends, no, her family safe from harm...then perhaps...   
  
If she didn't, he could come back, again and again. Maybe Kenshin was right. Maybe the philoosphy of Kamiya Kasshin was little more than a fairy tale.   
  
The Shinshingumi turned to face her, baring pointed teeth, and they joined their battle again. No words were spoken. None were needed. Somehow both knew with utter certainty that in this battle of spirit vs. spirit, if one died it was a permanent death, more permanent than any death of the body could be. Here they were an even match, for the wraith did not have Sanosuke's strength to aid him.   
  
The wraith was an offensive fighter. Kaoru awaited her moment, waited for him to get too aggressive and press the attack. Then, she disarmed him. His sword went flying into the void. She pressed the tip of her own sword to his throat, staring him in the eye.   
  
_Am I this much of a coward?_   
  
A heartbeat.   
  
_This much that I'd consider killing someone's soul to keep him from coming back? If I defeated him once can't I defeat him again? Or Kenshin? The fire was a special circumstance, after all._   
  
Another heartbeat.   
  
"Do it, girl," the spirit grated. "Takahashi Shota will not live if a mere girl can defeat him."   
  
Kaoru sheathed the blade. "Begone," she said, and put all of the force of her own spirit behind the word. "You can't find what you want here."   
  
The spirit launched itself at her, screaming. Kaoru stood firm. It was as if an invisible shield had come up between them, for its claws and fists did nothing. She looked him in the eye and shook her head slightly. "You have no right to harm me," she said.   
  
As Takahashi stared into her eyes, the truth became clear. Screaming, he faded from view.   
  
Kaoru was left to stare at her sword, formed of her anger and her fear. Deliberately, she focused on it, until it became a bokken. "This is my choice, now and always," she said quietly. "The sword that protects, the sword that brings out potential, and the sword that does not kill." She put it into the belt of her hakama even as she turned, feeling another presence behind her.   
  
"Father!"   
  
"Kaoru."   
  
Her father had not smiled much in life. In death he was equally somber and stern. He floated there in front of her, glowing softly with a faint white light.   
  
Kaoru gasped. "Am I dead, father?"   
  
"No. Your ki is simply temporarily in the spirit world. But I am glad. It gives me a chance to tell you what I need to tell you." Something was in his hand then. He held it out to her. She took it, gasping. It was his ivory bokken.   
  
"I am proud of you, Kamiya Kaoru, Master of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu."   
  
"Master..."   
  
"You had the skills. Now you have proven you have the heart as well. And the ki sense, if you will have confidence to develop it, for that is how you found your friends, and rescued them. Kaoru. You should go home now. Don't worry about the fire. It will be dealt with."   
  
"How?" Karou honestly wasn't sure if she meant the fire, or how she was supposed to get home, or both. Kamiya-san simply chose the one he was willing to answer.   
  
Kamiya-san pointed, and Kaoru turned to find a silvery cord issuing from her back. She turned and bowed to her father. "Arigato goziamas. I love you."   
  
He raised a hand in farewell, then faded from view. Kaoru followed the cord. Home...   
  
A fat raindrop hit her in the face. Another. And another. Thunder rolled, and the skies opened. A full scale thunderstorm erupted, wrestling the flames of her home into nothingness.   
  
  
  
Groaning, Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sanosuke sat up, rubbing their heads. Sanosuke clutched at his wounded leg. Kenshin grasped around frantically for his sakabato, then smiled slightly when he saw it in Karou's arms. She must have saved them, though he didn't remember much after he had gotten a mouthful of smoke. He'd been unable to fight then, unable to stand, unable to even stay conscious. He'd been sure he was going to die, either by the hands of the spirit that had taken posession of Sanosuke, or by the flames.   
  
"Kenshin..." Karou said weakly.   
  
Kenshin pulled himself over, painfully. Breathing still hurt. He scooped her up and looked at her. Even wet, covered in too many clothes, scorched, and exhausted she was beautiful.   
  
"Kenshin...I'm sorry. I messed up with your sakabato and used the wrong side by mistake...I made it draw blood Kenshin. Not killing blood, but..."   
  
"Maa, maa. Sano's leg? It will be fine, and you protected us all. You did well."   
  
She smiled tiredly. She was so pale! "I saw Daddy. He gave me the ivory bokken." She said, then she closed her eyes.   
  
Sanosuke limped over. "Jou-chan...Jou-chan is stronger than we think, isn't she?" His clothing had returned to normal.   
  
Kenshin looked up. He nodded once, then smiled.   
  
Yahiko grumbled. "Guess its a good thing we fixed the roof. Looks like we're all going to be sleeping in the stupid dojo thanks to the stupid rooster-head here."   
  
Kenshin braced himself for a fight between the two right out there in the rain, but Sanosuke only hung his head.   
  
"HEY!" Yahiko yelled. "Are you possessed again?"   
  
"Shut up," Sanosuke muttered. "I remember everything, okay? I just couldn't do nothing about it. Its not like I didn't try. So shut up. You think I like what that creep did with my body?"   
  
Kenshin scooped Karou up and started walking to the dojo. "If you had not fought so hard, sessha would not have been able to knock the spirit out of you, de gozaru."   
  
Sano puffed himself out. "That's right! Because Sagara Sanosuke doesn't let no sissy ghost get the better of him! No way!"   
  
Kenshin smiled as they got out of the rain. Things would be back to normal soon.   
  
  
  
Kaoru woke up in Kenshin's arms, and thought it was perhaps the most wonderful feeling in the world. It took her a moment to recognize her surroundings. The storm still raged outside. She sighed, looking for roofleaks, only to find there weren't any. She smiled, spotting the others sleeping peacefully across the dojo floor.   
  
_Oh no! The fabric!_   
  
Kaoru tried to get up, but a sleeping Kenshin tightened his arms around her. She smiled. _ Well I wanted an answer on how you felt about me, rurouni. Still if I don't get that fabric dried it'll mildew and now your old clothes are even worse thanks to the fire!_ An unromantic thought, perhaps, but it prompted her to wake him up in the best way she knew how.   
  
Kenshin's eyes opened, a startled, gloriously happy violet as the Master of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu placed her lips on his and kissed him until she was sure he was wide awake, before running out to collect what she hoped was the first of many gifts in a long life together.   
  
_I won't be a coward. In life, in battle, or in love. No matter what comes my way. Our way. No matter how many times enemies arrive. Over and over again, it doesn't matter. We'll face it as a family._ As she heard his startled, happy, "Oro" she laughed, racing into the rain to snatch up her basket. Then, she ran back.   
  
To him.   
  



End file.
